E-Ink Newspapers? When Car's Fly

Kevin Maney rolls his eyes: Newspaper companies have been talking about "electronic paper" editions for at least 20 years. And while it's true that E-Ink, specifically, has brought the technology a long way, there's little sign that newspapers will be on leading the way with this stuff. The idea is to have a flexible sheet that handles much the same as a newspaper page, but is really a screen that can be interactively navigated like a computer screen -- a true "electronic newspaper." (Right -- like a "horseless carriage.")

E-Ink is saying that real business tests will begin with newspapers in 2009. But newspaper companies have R&D budgets that, in a good year, would buy lunch for a handful of engineers. And this is not in any way a good year. In fact, it's the worst for newspapers in anybody's memory. So forgive me for being skeptical about daring investments in technology from that industry.

The most interesting development comes from Amazon's Kindle, which uses E-Ink technology and a wireless transmitter that allows an electonic newspaper to be "delivered" to the device every morning. Amazon has come closer to creating the newspaper of the future than any newspaper company.